SUZUKI SWIFT

Hybrid supermini has the Monopoly when it comes to fuel economy

- Tom Jervis Thomas

When testing a car’s outright performance, you often see fuel economy figures tumble. But even when pushing on in the Suzuki Swift, and revving out its modest three-cylinder engine, I struggle to get much less than 40mpg. In fact, most of the time when I’m pootling in town or on long journeys to and from the airport, my real-world figure is close to 60mpg — dropping to around 57mpg during the recent cold spell - which means the Japanese supermini has the Monopoly on fuel economy.

Compare this with my colleague, Ellis Hyde, who only a few months ago took custody of the award-winning MG3. He was shocked to find that even despite the MG’s hybrid tech, he was struggling to return more than 50mpg.

Putting my GCSE maths to good use, I worked out that filling up the Swift’s tank from full to empty at my local fuel station would cost around £50, while doing the same with the MG’s larger tank will set you back more than £62.